Republican candidates for District 120 spar over qualifications, accomplishments

The three Republican candidates vying for the newly created District 120 statehouse seat touted their credentials and wrangled over policy in the first debate of the season.

Weston Newton, chairman of the Beaufort County Council, Jerry Stewart, a two-term councilman, and Laura Sterling, a homemaker and part-time tax consultant, spoke before a packed dining room at Truffles Café Tuesday. The event was organized by the Republican Women of Southern Beaufort.

Sterling positioned herself as a fresh face who can shake up the political scene in Columbia, while Stewart and Newton promoted their records of securing development projects for the county, their relationships with the current Beaufort statehouse delegation, and what their backgrounds bring to the table.

Newly created after lines were redrawn to align with census numbers, District 120 has no incumbent. It includes much of greater Bluffton and part of Jasper County. Voting takes place June 12.

Sterling is the only candidate with no prior experience, describing herself as “politically ignorant before 2008” on WHHI-TV’s “Talk of the Town” in April. She said she decided to enter the race to challenge the “career politicians” of the “good ol’ boy” network and lend greater diversity to a statehouse that has dealt in “lies and misinformation.”

“There’s not much good about the good ol’ boys these days,” she said.

She says she sold her tax consulting business, Fast Tax, in 2009 and has focused on homeschooling her children while continuing to advise independently part time since then.

A native of South Carolina, Newton has served on the Beaufort County Council for 12 years, representing District 4. He’s a partner at the law firm Jones, Simpson, & Newton.

“I know there are no other candidates in this race who know the depth of our needs or the difficulties in addressing them,” he said.

Stewart is a two-term councilman for Beaufort’s District 10, representing the Sun City / Okatie region. With a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Idaho, he has experience directing scientific research and a publicly traded corporation that he eventually sold to a group of General Motors executives after starting with a staff of four people.

“I also know what it means to make payroll,” he said, emphasizing his business acumen.

On the main issues of fiscal autonomy for local school boards, government transparency, and the unilateral appointment of judges by the legislature, there was little disagreement, with all candidates questioning independent financial decision-making among school boards, welcoming transparency, and arguing for greater executive control in Columbia.

But Newton argued his long-standing chairmanship and endorsements from current members of the Beaufort statehouse delegation uniquely qualify him for the job.

“Having been elected chairman five consecutive times, my record on consensus-building is unquestionable,” he said.

Stewart countered that he cast a wider net with his time as a councilman, leveraging a regional partnership to help secure the Jasper County deep water port. He praised Newton’s influence as chairman but added that the credit for projects such as the $25-million Highway 170 has to be more evenly distributed.

“No one person can make this happen,” he said. “We work as a team. We work in committee as a team.”

Although she acknowledged her record of achievements on the public stage is far shorter, Sterling argued her lack of experience leaves her untainted by the negative forces of politics.

"We need true part-time citizen representatives who come back to live with the laws we make," she said.